Better be Slytherin
by Seven secrets
Summary: Being in Slytherin is tough work, and with Pansy's on going obsession with Draco Malfoy, her house's fight for pruity amongst other students and the recent news of the return of the Dark Lord, she simply cannot handle anything distrupting her life. But will being paired off with Harry Potter somehow be a means to an ends, as the two form an Alliance how will Slytherin take it?
1. Delusions

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends._

-The Sorting Hat, The philosopher's stone

* * *

Pansy Parkinson was many things, a manipulative liar at times, a horrendous Slytherin cow with no emotions for anyone other than herself and her vanity, who cared little for tedious things such as friendship and pure souls, however like any girl of her age she did indulge herself into small minute feelings, she allowed herself to hopelessly crush on Draco Malfoy, she occasionally fantasised about the moment when Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy would open their arms and allow her into their home as the future Mrs Malfoy, she couldn't deny the idea itself appealed to her but as a whole her life consisted of three things, Money, Purity and Draco Malfoy, with her obsession and her high blood status she had little time for anything outside of those three things.

* * *

Pansy sat tiredly in her seat on the end of the plush sofa –closest to the fireplace, glancing aimlessly between her 'gang' of what she could loosely call friends, because in Slytherin house it was very different to determinate the difference between Allies and people who genuinely found your company enjoyable.

"Maybe she'd be attractive if she had decent teeth and managed to get hold of some tweezers so then she'd at least have two eyebrows instead of one." Daphne droned on, running a hand through her light hair once more, her blue eyes glancing around the emerald walls of the Slytherin Common room.

Daphne was everything Pansy wasn't, she was almost effortlessly beautiful –almost because sometime during second and fourth year she had a massive acne break out which required her to get a special cream, she had long blonde hair that trailed down past her shoulder blade and cool blue eyes, and a small aristocratic nose –unlike Pansy's unflattering pug one (which no matter how many times people had told her she'd grown into still made her feel self-conscious), and of course Daphne was taller with long spidery legs, perhaps it was her lack of brain cells that stopped her from being the leader of their little group.

"And those pigtails, I mean maybe in first year you could have called it cute, but we're six years now and it's downright pathetic." Tracey chipped in adding to the fuel, the corners of her lips tugging upwards in a cruel smirk.

"Exactly besides I don't even want to think of the filth she's touched, I mean he could practically _taste _the mud on her lips! I'm sure of it." Daphne spat shaking her head furiously, as though the idea itself sent shivers down her spine.

"Imagine, lowering your standards like that, to some common Hufflepuff tart…it's disgusting, don't you agree Pans?" Rebecca Knott asked turning all attention to the brunette, Rebecca was like her brother stringy and maybe a little "rabbitty" to some but unlike Theodore, Rebecca did feel compelled to join in with gangs like Pansy, perhaps it was because she'd have felt helpless to verbal attacks without having the threat of her 'friends'.

Pansy paused pursing her lips as she took in the group she knew what they were expecting a brutal description as to why their current target the ironically named 'Scarlett' was an embarrassment to be seen with, and not feeling the need to disappoint them Pansy leant forward a half-hearted insult at the tip of her tongue, "The amount of dirt she's been rolling around in, it's a surprise he hasn't caught something yet."

Daphne seemed pleased an continued her brutal lashing of the girl as Pansy leant back in her seat, her eyes gazing towards the ebony clock that hung above the fireplace she sighed as the hands turned slowly time ticking away, she remembered former years when Draco would perhaps join her –sitting closer to Daphne of course but still he was funny enough that she could ignore the curious looks he'd send her 'ally' and the small whispers shared between them, that was back when she had that awful short hair and after Daphne returned from her holiday in Spain having spent the summer growing a chest.

A small coughing sound was made from Pansy's left and she turned her head towards Millicent Bulstrode, a dark haired girl with a heavy, jutting jaw and a large square jaw, she had stopped growing some time during their fourth year which meant that over those two years the other girls seemed a little closer to her height, but Pansy took comfort in the fact that with girls like Millicent and Rebecca she was at least the third or occasionally second prettiest in their gang.

"Something caught in your throat Bulstrode?" She asked feigning concern, the girl was at least interesting enough to fill the boredom, no doubt she'd bring up something about the chicken or some other form of food, but it was better than listening to Daphne and Tracey complain about their latest escapades, because honestly although Pansy would rather cut off her left arm and feed it to a Mudblood than admit it, both girls had gone further than she had ever been with a boy.

There was however a short time during their fourth year, the night before the yule ball when Draco had held her hand as he smuggled her up towards the clock tower with him, they had watched the pieces mould together every part needing the other in order to work properly, and whilst standing there in silence for what felt like years, he had turned to her sudden and quick and kissed her, it wasn't what she had imagined, it wasn't soft and tender, nor was it hungry and needy, it was firm and cold, but she managed to let herself fall into it, she struggled a bit when he had forced his tongue into her mouth, it poked at the insides of her cheeks like a trapped bat, and for a long moment she stood frozen as to what to do with her own.

She winced at the memory, because that was the first and last proper kiss they had shared since the yule ball when Granger decided to invest in hair gel and turned up looking stunning, it was a tragic night to say the least, she had been forced to wear the worst dress imaginable and Draco was the same, they twirled around together looking like that had returned from a recent funeral, the only good part of the night Draco had said was the fact that Potter was equally as miserable.

"Yeah actually, I think I had too much of that weird rice today at dinner, because my throat feels like it's on fire." Millicent coughed again this time gripping her throat with her large hands as if to emphasise her pain as though Pansy genuinely cared, but the brunette nodded her head before turning back to the clock, she let out a shaky breath, nine o'clock had rolled around and the only reason she was still down in the common room was because they were all expecting important information from Draco.

"My bet is their not coming," Rebecca stated again for the third time as nine o'clock turned to nine fifth-teen, but everyone else rolled their eyes, Pansy stretched her legs out in front of her, her hands gripping tighter to the arms of the chair as footsteps began coming from the boys dormitories, she rolled her shoulders before sitting up a little straighter, perhaps today Draco would take more notice of her, she had grown her hair longer and put in Sculpting Gel –her new best friend, which Draco also coincidentally happened to use as well, maybe she had grown into her nose a little bit.

Blaise Zabini was the first to stroll into the room, his expression purposely monotone and his eye staring boredly at the girls before he stepped towards the fireplace leaning back against it, he frowned for a moment as though perhaps something had interested him before his expression returned to its normal bored state.

From the corner of her eye Pansy could see Tracey quirking an eyebrow, "Did I just see what I thought I saw? Was something interesting enough for Blaise Zabini to frown?" She said with a smirk as she brushed her straight auburn locks away from her face before looking at Blaise who merely rolled his eyes at her.

"Why don't you alert the media Davis?" Pansy said with a sigh that caused the corners of Blaise's to turn up in amusement before falling again; Tracey however met her with a small glare before slumping in her seat.

It was at this moment that Draco chose to saunter into the room, Pansy felt her heart skip a beat as she glanced him over, his platinum hair was sleeked back and the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up, he smirked coolly before making his way into the centre of the room Crabbe and Goyle trailing close behind him, they smiled widely towards Daphne who sneered in return.

"I'm sure any of you with half a brain is aware of the recent events concerning the return of, The Dark Lord." Draco began his light grey eyes shifting between them before pausing for what Pansy perceived to be a century on her but was in reality only a few seconds longer than it was the others.

"Of course we have." Rebecca replied leaning in a little more, if there was one thing about the Knotts that Pansy disliked it was the clear fact that they were willing to kiss as much arse as possible if it meant they'd get to the top, Theodore seemed a little more tolerable but even he on occasion would feel inclined to laugh along with jokes that in no way involved him.

"Yes well, I'm sure by now you've realised how close we are to graduation, how close in fact we are to one day joining our parents in their struggle to rid this school and more importantly the wizarding community of the Mudblood filth." Draco spat his lips pulling into a sneer as he said the word Mudblood, what had often frustrated Pansy about his obsession with 'the Golden Trio' was that it meant that he also had an obsession with a particular muggleborn who recently had always seemed to be besting Pansy in almost every aspect, no matter what it was Pansy did Hermione Granger felt the need to do better.

"You're preaching to the choir Draco." Daphne spoke up, a smile playing on her lips as she brushed back a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, Pansy resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the girl, it had become blatantly obvious to even her what Daphne's intentions for this year were, and although she knew her chances were slim Pansy refused to let the blonde bimbo out do her, this year she was determined to make Draco Malfoy her's.

Draco shot her an amused smirk before continuing, "This is a big year for those of you whose parents have yet to be granted admission into the inner circle."

Pansy, Millicent, Daphne and Crabbe straightened a little at this, Blaise however seemed a little more impassive like usual but she could tell by the way his eyes darted towards Draco that even he cared about what would be said next, because whatever it was would no doubt change all of their lives, for one they'd be more appealing choices for marriage, two they would have more control over the goings on during their time outside of Hogwarts and three, it would mean they'd be on the front line when the war no doubt kicked off; the idea made Pansy's stomach flip in what she chose to think was excitement.

Draco paused no doubt to bask in the sudden shift of attention on him before continuing, " The dark lord has assigned a special mission involving what I believe to be all of your parents, unfortunately my father has not shared the contents of that mission with me only the desired results for you, those who are successful will be promoted," he paused for dramatic affect causing Pansy to lean forward in her seat her eyes trained soley on him as his lips moved, "So I suggest you all be on your best behaviour as those whose parents do get considered for the promotion will have to have children who aren't complete disgraces to the cause.

Crabbe and Millicent's shoulders slumped at this and Pansy couldn't help the way her lips twitched upwards at the prospect, perhaps with her family becoming richer and admittedly more purer she would finally have a decent chance at becoming the future Mrs Malfoy, and her dreams would become a reality.

"Is that all then?" Tracey asked raising an eyebrow at Draco of course she had nothing to worry about last year her stupid mother had somehow managed to get into the Dark Lord's good graces and was allowed admission to the circle, and suddenly Tracey thought it gave her some sort of leverage over Pansy and Daphne, who combined put her back in her place.

"If I were you Davis, I wouldn't be that careless about who gets this promotion, the circle seems to be getting a bit too full according to father." At this Tracey frowned before looking towards Pansy who only rolled her eyes in acknowledgement, again she had her focus completely on Draco, she paused unsure what to do, she should probably say something so he wouldn't think her a complete dunce, but when she opened her mouth to say something no words seemed to come out it was as though he had left her completely mute.

"Pansy are you alright you seem to be having a fit or something? You didn't eat that rice did you?" Millicent asked her thick brows knitting together, as she _patted _–more like slammed, Pansy in the back causing the girl to yelp she turned her head sharply to look at the larger girl.

"Bulstrode if you can't tell I was in shock! You stupid troll." Pansy snapped, her anger fiercer than her embarrassment, she wanted to cringe at how pathetic she must be coming across to Draco and of course she could only have Bulstrode to blame for that.

Millicent blinked repeatedly before looking down at her lap, her head bowed in silent shame.

"You tell her Pansy." Rebecca added in, Pansy felt her hands ball into tight fists at the girls voice but forced herself to look back at Draco who was staring blankly at the wall ahead of him, before looking at them all again.

"If your quite finished," he said his usual nonchalant tone breaking through as he addressed them, "This year is going to be one of the biggest years of your Hogwarts lives and I hope you are all aware of that, starting tomorrow you should all be on your best behaviour."

* * *

"I don't _believe _this," Daphne hissed.

They were sitting in Herbology waiting to be paired off into partners for their upcoming project that would be continued for the rest of the year, Daphne had unfortunately been placed with Longbottom, "Who knows maybe some good will come out of this and if you don't do well he'll _eat _the plant." Pansy whispered in reply, causing snickering to come from the few surrounding Slytherins.

Daphne rolled her eyes and huffed as she ran her eyes over her partner, "I suppose it could be worse, with clothes like that I forget _Sidebottom_'s a pureblood, or half-blood I honestly don't even know." She said her face twisting in disgust.

Pansy smirked to herself, enjoying watching the blonde in distress.

"Luna Lovegood and…Draco Malfoy!"

On her other side, Draco groaned loudly, "At least your partner isn't _deranged_," he grumbled to Daphne his gaze drifting towards the somewhat ditzier blonde who smiled cheerfully at him, her cheery earrings swinging to match her enthusiasm.

Pansy wasn't sure whether she should be relieved or jealous at the fact that even Lovegood seemed to have it better than her being paired up with Draco or relieved at the fact that Draco was being paired up with Lovegood.

"At least you're not paired with Potter again," Pansy replied looking towards the scar headed boy, secretly she had been feeling a little disappointed at that fact, she loved the way Draco's eyes would fill with determination and steely ambition as he tried to best Potter, ultimately he'd usually fail but Pansy would allow herself to get lost in the look on his face, it was intriguing to say the least, and she had wondered if that was her expression whenever she fought for dominance over her circle of friends.

She highly doubted it.

"Hopefully all this integration of houses shit will stop soon. I don't see how this does anyone any good." Daphne frowned looking back towards Longbottom who shifted uncomfortably under her intense gaze, his face reddening and he tugged at the collar of his shirt.

"Dumbledore probably thinks that if we're forced together enough they'll be a good influence on us, I tell you, count the amount of purebloods in this class you probably won't even need both hands." Draco replied quietly as he surveyed the class his expression cold.

"Will you two shut up, I haven't heard my name yet." Pansy whispered having already become familiar with everyone's views on the other houses, blood statuses, and of course Dumbledore, who was an everlasting topic in not only her school life but her home life as well.

'_The idiot._' He father would say, '_The moron._' Her mother would reply, '_The muggle loving blood traitor_.' She'd been trained to reply with.

"Pansy Parkinson and…Harry Potter."

She felt Draco stiffen behind her and she blinked looking towards Harry, during all their years at school they had shared many classes with one another but this had been the first time they'd been paired with one another, the golden boy had been with Daphne at least twice, Draco several times and Knott once, but never Pansy.

As she glanced back at Draco seeing his jaw tense and the determination return in his eyes, she couldn't help but smirk to herself, it seemed as though Pansy had found the key to Draco's attention, no doubt he'd be spending more time with her in order to scare off Potter and inadvertently he'd begin realising that he genuinely had feelings for the young brunette, it caused her to smile a little.

"Seems like Parkinson's drawn the short straw." Daphne smirked running a hand through her blonde locks.

"Anything's better than _Side_bottom and _Loony_ Lovegood." Pansy hissed in reply, she straightened her shoulders watching Potter from across the room, his friends were currently snickering at him and giving Pansy pointed looks, again her hand instinctively twitched to cover her nose, but she knew from being on the other end that showing insecurities led to more of them being exposed, held Potter's gaze coolly, feeling her ears heat up, because someone of her aristocracy didn't blush because a half-blood –and the scum he associated with, were looking at her.

It simply wasn't done.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter

**A/N:** This story takes place during the 'Halfblood Prince'


	2. Morals

Honestly if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin,

I'd have got the train straight back home.

-Ron Weasley

* * *

Pansy stared passively at her workmanship leaning back to get a better view of her creation, she didn't frequently partake in drawing, most of her work were comical strips of what she had been feeling that day, it was her creative outlet whilst Draco and Blaise had their Quidditch and Tracey had her vanity, and a lot of sexual frustrations that she let out on Ravenclaw boys, the occasional Hufflepuff added to the mix –but Pansy kept quiet about that taking pleasure in lording it over her, Pansy had her cartoons.

She sighed watching them move across the page, it had begun with her hopelessly pulling out her own heart –clichéd as it was, and handing it to a smiling Draco who took it in his hands running away with it, whilst she waited expectantly for him to hand her his, only for him to return it to her bruised and broken, it was a pathetic thing to do but that was how she felt at the moment, knowing that he had run off with some unsuspecting Ravenclaw girl –or perhaps a fifth year Slytherin, and was most likely violating a broom cupboard hidden in the castle.

She watched as her cartoon-self melted away too distraught to keep herself together.

"Do you think they'll have us doing more ministry work in Herbology tomorrow?" Tracey asked nobody in particular.

"I honestly couldn't give a fuck anymore, after how we had to degrade ourselves yesterday by getting them that Star Grass so they can treat their 'colic'." Daphne quipped shaking her head in dismay.

Pansy snorted remembering the distress on their faces as they were forced to search through the shrubs for the plant apparently only native in South Africa which Professor Sprout conveniently forgot, Pansy didn't doubt that the woman took silent pleasure in watching the children search aimlessly for a non-existent ingredient.

"It's ridiculous what they expect us to do. And did you see Draco's face when Lovegood actually tried to talk to him? I don't think I've laughed so hard before." Tracey snickered as she turned away from her vanity, the left side of her hair curled and bouncy, Pansy resisted the urge to tell her she vaguely resembled a first year version of Granger.

Pansy nodded her head slightly in agreement, recalling how Luna had tried to indulge Draco in a conversation about the uses of Gnome saliva, and the girl didn't even seem to notice how Draco looked practically disturbed by the mere fact that she was speaking to him so freely in front of people, let alone the topic of the exchange.

Lovegood had been a '_special_' case according to Professor Sprout she had shown exceptional talents in her previous Herbology lessons and was being moved up into a more experienced class, it was a new experimental idea enforced by the ministry –although Pansy thought it was to do with the exceptional amount of bullying the girl received.

"I didn't realise how capable the Loony was of having a conversation without anyone else contributing." Pansy said shaking her head.

"Hence the nickname." Rebecca said from her bed on the far side of the room, Pansy nodded her head slightly she had completely forgotten that the girl was even in the room much less that she had been listening, she'd figured she'd still be in bed like Bulstrode.

Pansy looked back at her note book that was still left open in her hands, frustrated at her own pitiful delusions she snapped her note book shut, shoving it back into the safety of her trunk.

"You'll be pleased to know that apparently Blaise is on the prowl Nott." Pansy said looking towards the tall string like girl, she like most others had known about Rebecca's obsession with Blaise for quite some time –however unlike the other's she rarely brought it up unless the girl had decided to become particularly insufferable.

She watched with narrow eyes as Rebecca turned three shades darker her skin closely resembling beetroot as she shook her head, "Why would I care what Zabini does with his free time?" she questioned shifting uncomfortably on her bed at the intense gaze of her room-mates, for a moment Pansy considered how referring to one another by last name seemed to be a reoccurrence in Slytherin house even amongst allies, she wondered if other houses had similar traits.

"Oh come off it Nott, we were all there last summer when you were practically writing his name on your feet," Tracey said her lip curling up in disgust at the use of the word feet, "In permanent ink no less! It's a wonder what would have happened if he hadn't been so smashed that night and laughed it off."

Pansy shook her head holding back a laugh at the events that occurred that night, but Rebecca only blushed deeper, "I had too much to drink! Nobody seems to judge you when you go off crying because of your alcohol consumption." She said shaking her head at the girl, but Tracey merely shrugged it off turning back towards her mirror so she could apply an extra layer of lip-gloss onto her already over done lips.

"Well if we're going to bring up obsessions, it's a surprise Pansy doesn't feel her Draco-Senses tingling, because I'm pretty sure it's been two hours too long since she said anything Malfoy related." Daphne said looking at her intently, Pansy cringed she had walked right into that.

"I could say the same about you." Pansy said frowning towards the girl, it was always like this; they seemed to turn just as quickly on each other as they had other people, and she was sure that they would spend a majority of their lives –even once they left Hogwarts, doing similar activities.

"Really if you don't recall the last time Malfoy got smashed it was me who was pushing him away before he began ravaging my mouth."

Pansy grimaced it was like Daphne had dropped a bucket of water over her head and kicked her in the stomach, she distinctly remembered that day, it was the night they had played a game against Ravenclaw –she had always thought that competition against Ravenclaw felt healthy it lacked the undying need to beat Gryffindor (more to the point Potter) and it wasn't as simple as it was against Hufflepuff, and Draco had caught the snitch.

They had all moved to the common room and thrown a party, the Malfoy heir had taken it upon himself to sit in the arm chair basking in the glory of his win, the night was a blur of music and alcohol that's origin remained unknown to Pansy, Daphne as per usual had been one of the first few to take advantage of Draco's drunken state shamelessly flirting him and letting his hands roam over her –much to Pansy's dismay, until it got to the point where he was trying to coax into kissing him, Daphne realising she had the upper hand had turned him down.

"That's not how I remember it." Pansy lied.

Daphne snorted, "Really because that's how it happened."

"Shove off Snot-grass." Pansy snapped turning away from the girl as the lump that was Millicent stirred in her sleep muttering incoherent words under her breath before resuming her snoring, Pansy was grateful for the interruption and was sure that the next morning she would somehow repay Millicent for her unintentional good-deed, perhaps she'd let her have some of her bacon.

Nobody spoke for a long moment all trying to defuse their anger for one another by returning to their solo activities, Rebecca seemed to have decided to sleep off the embarrassment and Pansy considered taking her lead for a moment before her eyes narrowed in suspicion as Tracey rose from her seat by the mirror, her hair full of curls.

"Going somewhere Davis?" She and Daphne asked in unison glancing towards one another uneasily.

"Yes actually, I plan on having a particularly fun time tonight, prefects be damned." The auburn haired girl said fluffing her obnoxiously bouncy locks as she strutted out of the room leaving Daphne and Pansy alone –with the exception of their sleeping comrades of course.

Pansy coughed for a moment and stared at the girl opposite her, there had come a time before their rivalry that Pansy had considered Daphne a best friend, it was of course before Hogwarts had started, because first year had been the time where everyone found their place on the social system and neither girls were afraid of stepping on a few heads in their efforts to get to the top, luckily for Pansy however, a run in with Granger and a verbal lashing of the Muggleborn had left her a fearful creature throughout the year.

Daphne stared at her before turning away resting her head on the pillow it had become apparent to Pansy that if they were going to speak with one another in a more civilised way it wouldn't happen tonight, she swallowed the forming lump in her throat before turning away as well, she lay in bed waiting impatiently for sleep to overcome her.

* * *

The next day the advanced Herbology class found themselves standing at the entrance of the school gardens, Pansy usually would have relished the chance to spend the morning in the gardens, but she had woken up in a foul mood that only seemed to worsen at having to be forced to endure both Tracey _and _Draco brag about their exploits.

"C'mon Pans, it's a little funny don't you think?" Tracey asked raising an eyebrow at her, as Draco wiggled his towards a group of passing fifth year Hufflepuffs, Pansy rolled her eyes trying not to let her heart clench at the action, it seemed as though Draco had considered every other pure-blooded girl in their year –with the exception of Knott and Bulstrode (and other helpless cases), somewhat desirable, yet paid her little attention unless in some way or another Potter were involved, it made her blood boil.

"What that you had decided to make your whoring acts a Duo?" Pansy asked with a sigh as she pushed her food around on her plate no longer feeling quite as hungry as she had before.

"No that Draco and I were both with people who happen to be cheating on the other, it can't be coincidence." Tracey giggled a sound that made Pansy cringe before looking at the girl, she kept her eyes stony.

"Yes, because believe it or not Davis some people genuinely believe in relationships." She said her voice coming out harsher than she had intended, she hoped that Draco didn't think she cared too much about whom he chose to 'spend time with' but the idea itself wasn't particularly appealing to her.

"Why are you making such a big deal about this? You never cared about Moon before." Tracey frowned; Daphne looked up at Pansy with a smirk, they both knew the answer it was because Draco was involved, the boy in question however didn't even look at her he was far too focused on whatever was going on behind her, most likely some Ravenclaw mouthing vulgar things to him, either that or Potter was planning on being a saint again.

"I'm just saying… it's not that big of a coincidence. I mean you'd both get the same sexually transmitted diseases now." This caught Draco's attention and his head instantly snapped toward her before looking at Tracey who paled as well, it had made her feel somewhat better but it wasn't a great improvement.

"All right, class," Professor Sprout announced, "Either you or your partner should have brought over the equipment needed for today from the greenhouse, and your text books as well. Now everybody follow me."

The students all trudged after the short and stout woman through the gardens as she led them towards the centre where a large fountain which seemed to have been broken and falling apart lay soundless, she hoped up on top of it so that it gave her some height above everyone else.

"I hope you can all hear me, yes? Alright well then, today's assignment is to locate and pot Asphodel." Sprout said clapping her hands together as she took in their monotone faces.

Confused Pansy turned to Blaise, "What the hell is Asphodel?" she asked in a whisper, it took a moment for Blaise to answer her most likely he was considering whether this was worth his obviously precious time.

"It's in the lily family, and it's used in tons of potions like Draught of the Living Dead and Wiggenweld Potion." He explained with a sigh of discontent before looking back towards his partner, he had been paired with Padma Patil –a girl Pansy openly disliked and wasn't opposed to hexing on those times when drawing wasn't a satisfying emotional outlet, and Granger.

"Can anyone tell me what Asphodel is?" Professor Sprout asked, Granger's hand shot up immediately but Pansy didn't bother waiting to be called on before repeating Blaise's exact words causing the boy to shake his head but she could have sworn she saw him smile for a short moment. "Correct miss Parkinson, 5 points to Slytherin."

Around her she saw a gaggle of Gryffindors roll their eyes at her but she chose to ignore it feeling her day was already improving as she had managed to get the upper hand on Granger; it was one of few pleasures in her life watching the girl stand irritably and mutter obscenities under her breath.

A hand shot up into the air, "Professor?"

Ms Sprout rolled her eyes before looking at Rebecca, "What is it, Nott?"

"Since there are an uneven amount of students, can I be in Pansy's group?" She asked hopefully as Pansy gave her an annoyed look shaking her head distastefully at the girl, needless to say it was girls like Rebecca who were bringing down the standards of Slytherin house.

Professor Sprout rolled her eyes, "You've already been assigned to work with Mr Thomas and Mr Finnigan."

"But-"

"I said no, Ms Nott!"

Sighing and crossing her arms over her flat chest Rebecca shrugged her shoulders at Pansy as if to say that there was nothing she could do, before grabbing the shovel from Thomas and making one of the saddest attempts to strut that Pansy had seen all year.

"Well what are you all waiting for?" Sprout demanded as she observed the unmoving groups of students, "Get together with your partners!"

Exchanging a final glance between her fellow Slytherins Pansy began to disperse towards the fountain where she had caught sight of a rather annoyed looking Potter waiting for her, but before she could step any closer she felt a hand clamp down over her shoulder, it was such a feeling that she had to freeze momentarily to get herself together.

"Parkinson, I've been meaning to talk to you," Draco said from behind her, Pansy didn't have to turn around to see the expression on his face the way he was most likely analysing the situation, the way his eyes were most likely blazing with ambition at the prospect of sparring against Potter once again; she swallowed before turning to face him.

"Don't you have a partner to go…collect with Draco?" She asked her eyes dancing with silent amusement as she took in the repugnant look he shot towards Lovegood as the girl chatted animatedly to whoever she had managed to get a pitiful smile from today.

"You're a comical genius," Draco sighed before looking her over, Pansy felt her heart beat speed up.

This had to be it the moment when she and Draco would look at each other seemingly for the first time and get lost in one another's eyes, this was the moment when Draco would smile crookedly revealing the dimple on his left cheek that Pansy had never quite managed to bring out, this was the time when he'd lean in and give her a softer kiss than the one they had shared in the Clock Tower and Pansy wouldn't hesitate to kiss back, and it would send out fireworks and wedding bells throughout his head, and he'd realise that they were clearly meant to be.

Of course that didn't happen, instead Draco's gaze shifted towards something behind Pansy's shoulder, Potter most likely, but she didn't feel annoyed because it meant that the plan she had been forming during the night was starting to work already Draco was pulling her aside in lessons, something that he hadn't done since their second year.

"What was it that you wanted, Draco?" Pansy questioned drawing the boy's attention back to the situation at hand, she watched as he gave her a calculating look.

"Just to remind you that well…" he reached forward his hand brushing back a strand of hair, and Pansy felt as though she had temporarily forgotten how to breathe, but the fleeting moment left as he smiled towards her once more, "I hope you have an enjoyable lesson today Pans," he hadn't called her that since first year when he struggled a little to get her attention.

She smiled though because she still couldn't fault him, Draco was what she had dreamed of having since her third year at Hogwarts, when her 'innocent' crush had manifested itself into the obsession it was today, she nodded though before looking back towards Potter and wondering if he had any intention of coming over and joining her, currently he was standing beside Granger and Patil laughing at something they had said.

"I hope so too." Pansy said swallowing the anxiety bubbling up inside her as she approached the trio, she kept her expression as monotone as possible as she neared, she wouldn't allow herself to feel intimidated by a Blood traitor, a Half-blood and their Mudblood pet.

As she neared the laughing effectively stopped and an awkward silence fell on the trio as they observed her, none knowing what to say –although granted Pansy had seemed to go out of her way other the past six years to verbally and occasionally physically (no doubt mentally) abuse Padma and Hermione, for a long moment they all attempted to stare her down, and the 'Slytherin Princess' merely rolled her eyes at their antics.

Granger was the first to break the silence, "C'mon Padma, we've got a plant to find. And I'm sure Zabini is being an excellent poser as per usual." She said sparing Harry what Pansy was sure was supposed to be a remorseful smile before turning on her heel tugging away the somewhat denser girl with her; Pansy had always found it curious how Granger had managed to jump the ship of creativity to join Gryffindor 'house of the brave'.

With Hermione and her partner gone, it left Pansy and Harry alone with one another neither knowing whether or not hide their underlined distain for the other, and whilst Pansy was contented with the idea of working in silence it seemed Potter was not.

Harry stepped towards them breaking the neutral space that had been placed between them –due to fear that the other (if allowed their way) would throw a hex.

For a short moment Pansy couldn't help but notice the way that Potter walked, he had a certain confidence in him that differed from Draco. Maybe it lacked arrogance.

"I see you've brought the equipment." Pansy stated coolly as she squared her shoulders to the taller boy, her eyes drifting over towards his scar which was somewhat hidden by his ruffled dark hair, his green eyes looked at her warily before he nodded his head.

"I saw you hadn't."

Nobody said anything for a while allowing Pansy the opportunity to look around at the groups surrounding her, to her right she could see Daphne huffing her hair out of her way as Sidebottom tried in vain to get her to move further into the gardens promising that none of the plants were vicious enough to harm her, she knew that the blonde was only stalling for time away from the boy in such close quarters, but still it made Pansy smile.

"Let's just get this over with Potter, the sooner we're done the sooner we never have to see each other again." Pansy sighed grabbing the pot and heading out further into the gardens not looking back to see if Harry would follow, she did however allow herself a brief moment to poke the side of her nose –fear that it was looking increasingly pug-like made her a little more conscious of it today.

Behind her she heard the sound of clattering as Potter was no doubt jogging to keep up with her fast pace, she didn't look back at him though, and allowed herself to smile, 'golden boy' had finally been put in his place, something that hadn't occurred since fifth year with Dolores Umbridge –oh how Pansy missed that woman! Finally someone had managed to make Potter and his group of unwashed misfits feel the blatant favouritism and hatred that they had shamelessly forced against the Slytherins.

Pansy could admit however that although that year was one of the best years of her life so far, having made prefect which meant that Draco and her were allowed to spend more time together in such close quarters as well –even though the young Malfoy heir had treated her like she was nothing more than a badge that he could order about as freely as he did Crabbe and Goyle, it also led to a more shameful sixth year, it was an utter embarrassment having Dumbledore strip her of her prefect position a blow that hurt Draco much more than it did her, the old fart had claimed it was something to do with '_abuse of the badge and being unable to demonstrate proper conduct that prefects must__carry_'.

Given it his way Pansy didn't doubt that Dumbledore would have banned Slytherins from ever becoming Prefects.

"Where exactly are we going?" Potter asked from behind Pansy as she led him towards her favourite part of the gardens, as soon as she stepped onto the familiar pathway she felt a slight ebb in the tension between them, the trees around them were blooming and heavy along this trail providing shade and a sense of protection from the world.

Not to mention it was most likely one of the few parts of the gardens with aesthetic value.

"Don't worry Potter, I'm not planning a surprise assassination in the Herbology, it's far too…bright for my tastes." Pansy said tossing him a look over her shoulder before continuing down the path way.

"Do you even know where we'd found some… A-erm... A… Asphodel?" Harry stuttered out struggling for a while to find the correct name for the lily.

"Do I look like I'm a walking, talking, textbook?" Pansy asked with an exasperated sigh as she turned to face him, watching him struggle for a while to keep a hold of their equipment made a small smirk tug at her lips, it was cold and cruel but Pansy couldn't help but allow herself to take pleasure watching Potter struggle the way he was –it was almost like pay back for his sudden unattainable knowledge for potions.

Harry snorted but shook his head, "Sorry it's just you seemed to know an awful lot about them at the beginning of the lesson."

"Right Granger nearly had a fit about not being called on." Pansy retorted her voice coming out instinctively harsher than she had first anticipated but she didn't take her words back, not caring about the way his gaze hardened defensively.

For as long as she had known Harry Potter he had always felt the need to stick his undersized scar covered head in her business –that was of course when he wasn't batting his oversized eyelashes at Weaslette, whether it ranged from the 'playful' teasing of Neville and his chocolate consumption to the harmless mocking of Hannah Abbot, he'd always seem to turn up somehow bringing his Gryffindor morals and lectures about loyalty with him, it had become boring to say the least.

"Don't talk about her that way." Harry said his expression not having softened yet as he scrutinised her, his glasses misting up slightly as Pansy had seen them do plenty of times when Draco had managed to find the right buttons to push.

"And why not, Saint Potter?" Pansy said shaking her head at him as she scanned the area for a cooler spot where the lilies would most likely hide out.

"Because I said so, Parkinson."

"And what makes you think I'm going to listen to you? Half-blood." Pansy turned towards him, she suddenly felt a new appreciation towards Draco's need to best Potter although it sometimes bordered on insanity; she could see the appeal of it, watching Potter's hands clench and unclench at his sides. Pansy took on a Draco-like smirk as they stared each other down.

The space between the suddenly seemed to shrink as Harry stared back at her, making Pansy feel smaller but she didn't let up, neither of them did until the sound of ruffling from their left made both their heads snap towards it, breaking eye contact.

"Found one of the little buggers, yet?" Daphne asked as she emerged from the corner carrying her pot with Neville jogging to keep up, his face was flustered and he smiled tiredly towards Harry his eyes drifting in annoyance towards Daphne who disregarded him with a wave of her hand.

It seemed that their tiff last night was over, so Pansy answered honestly not wanting to come across as the least mature of the two although she was still pissed off with the girl the last thing she needed was for the other houses to know it. "Nope." She said.

"Well we have," Daphne said with a slightly smug smile, the term _we _was most likely used loosely the four of them were well aware that it was most likely Neville who found it but that didn't stop Daphne from being smug about it.

Pansy rolled her eyes, "Let me see it then, so that I'll know what the blasted things look like." She said taking the pot from Daphne and staring down at the small white lily that swayed slightly under the ministrations of her breath on it, ghosting over the fragile leaves.

"When you're finished can I please see it?" Neville asked Pansy giving warily looking back at Harry over her shoulder for confirmation on the idea, since both Pansy and Daphne ignored him.

"These are Asphodels?" Harry asked regarding the small plant from over Pansy's shoulder.

"You're not exactly the sharpest Unicorn in the pen are you Potter?" Daphne sneered shaking her head at him before looking back at Pansy.

"Where did you find it?" Potter asked ignoring Daphne's comment and looking towards Neville hopefully, but before the boy could open his mouth to answer Daphne beat him to it.

"There's a pond down there," she said throwing her thumb over her shoulder to point in the direction she and Neville had come from, the latter kicked the dirt with his show clearly she wasn't pleased with the current company but that seemed to go three ways.

"Of and you have to be really careful with them cause their quite delicate." Neville added looking towards Daphne with a slight smile only to be swiftly brushed off by the tall blonde.

Pansy wasted no time trudging through the bushes leaving a slightly stunned Harry in her wake as she strode confidently towards the pond, "Damn it!" she swore as she felt a branch whack her in the face as she pushed her way through the thick foliage.

Chucking soon followed, and she snapped her head towards Potter who raised his eyebrows in surrender but a smile was still tugging at his lips.

"Cocky Gryffindork." Pansy hissed under her breath as they walked.

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter

**A/N: **Thankyou to all those who have taken the time to review the story so far, it means a lot to me :)

**Napoleon007 **to answer you question about Luna, in case you did miss my explaination earlier in this chapter, Luna has been placed into a more advanced Herbology class having shown exceptional skills in her own, it was a temperary move made my Professor Sprout, that most students think was simply an excuse to try and reduce bullying :)

Ideas and suggestions on the next chapter would be greatly appreciated!


	3. Mask

_You could be great, you know_

_And Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness,_

_No doubt about it._

-The Sorting Hat, The Philosophers stone.

* * *

There was something mildly ironic about having a Slytherin help you with your make-up.

Because make-up was another mask that you wore when you wanted to hide the less than spectacular truth, it was an ideal and necessary evil unless of course you were one of those girls who had the great fortune to be effortlessly beautiful, but those girls hardly mattered to Pansy they were few and far between and always seemed easily lured to the bright colours and pore blocking textures of foundations and eye shadows.

A mask was used to hide yourself, to protect yourself from the world, and the irony of having your enemy build your defences against the worlds was almost laughable. However make-up was not the most important mask a Slytherin girl wore, not in a long shot but it was essential to survival.

Pansy struggled not to grimace as Tracey held her head still as she tried to trace mascara over her short and curled eye lashes, perhaps it was reflex that Pansy considered herself that way, often she felt like the worst in their little circle –again with the exception of Bulstrode and Nott, so naturally she always acted like the best.

"Would you hold still?" Tracey exclaimed in frustration as she struggled to keep her grip on the brunette who was gripping her bed sheets in an effort not to brutally swat her away.

"It's difficult to do with you jabbing at me like that," Pansy hissed in reply, from the corner of her eye she could see Daphne shaking her head in amusement, Daphne was one of those 'effortlessly beautiful' girl who had been drawn away by the lure of make-up, at present she had managed to smear on what she called 'smoky eyes' and scarlet red lip stick onto her plump mouth.

"So when's the meeting again?" Crabbe asked impatiently looking towards Draco, who was currently sprawled across the other end of Pansy's bed. The young Malfoy heir didn't seem to have any preserves on privacy when it came down to whether or not he'd have a chance to best Potter even at something as juvenile as completing his homework to a better standard.

"I'll let you know." Draco replied, barely looking up from his half written potions essay as he leaned across the duvet reading over Pansy's work to ensure his own was up to scratch.

"This is bloody ridiculous." Tracey muttered loudly.

They ignored her.

From the corner of her eye Pansy watched Draco who was muttering out the words he read aloud keeping his voice quiet as his hand flowed swiftly across the paper, making every letter a shape with the neat and steady precision of his hands as they his fingers curled tightly around his quill –no doubt it was the fine breeding Lucius and Narcissa had had gone into to ensure that their son out shine everyone in every way possible.

Although that being said Pansy could remember her eight year old self, pale and skinny, watching with wide eyes as her old tutor had engraved the rules of penmanship in her small charges. Each letter was a shape, the older woman would drill out to her, one shape in the world and no other, it was Pansy's responsibility to make it perfect.

Her fingers clenched and unclenched the bed sheets as she recalled a younger version of herself sitting alone in her pristine room, her small fingers wrapped tightly around her first quill as she practiced the cursive writing in solitude, hour after hour until she wrote with the exquisite fluidity of running water, even when her fingers became overcome with the painful cluster.

Part of her doubted that the Malfoy family needed to go to such extremes to achieve perfection.

"What about after classes?" Goyle questioned tearing his mouth away from the chocolate frog he was currently gnawing at since their arrival, sending slight sprays of brown spit in every direction as he spoke; Pansy cringed at him before looking back towards Draco.

Only to have her head snapped back into position by Tracey, she shot the auburn haired girl a menacing glare.

"No. We have Quidditch practice."

"Again?" Crabbe sighed shaking his head towards their captain with a disgruntled sigh.

Draco gave him a sharp look. "Yes _again_. And again until Potter's head is finally smashed by one of Goyle's blasted bludgers!"

Pansy tensed slightly but kept her eyes focused on Tracey –she'd be damned if she lost an eye to this girl.

"Did you manage to get a standard conversation out of Lovegood then Malfoy?" Daphne asked looking up from shifting between her pile of decorations –or accessories as she called them, she would no doubt let them spill across the common room as she danced away the night with a half drunk and mildly desperate seventh year (although there had been a few occasions when fifth years were involved).

Pansy's lips tugged upwards in an amused smile, causing Draco to snort and shake his head.

"She's an absolute hopeless cause, with delusions like her's it's a wonder she's even a pure-blood." Draco quipped as he dipped his quill in the remainder of the ink, "All she does is drone on about her Merlin forsaken Quibbler and those obnoxious 'Crumple-Horned Snorkacks' of her's."

At this Pansy laughed causing Draco to glance at her sparing a small and almost hesitant smile in her direction, but it was enough to get the gears turning in Pansy's head once more. Perhaps all these years he had simply been playing hard to get? Maybe he really did want her as much as she wanted him?

"Speaking of partnerships how was your time with Granger and Patil, Zabini?" Tracey asked looking up at him, the sudden jerking of her hand as she pulled away from Pansy's eye made the brunette start.

It wasn't a secret that Blaise had a particular dislike of Mudbloods –much like a majority of Slytherin house, but what most people didn't know was that through all his morals and silent distain, the one thing Blaise Zabini despised above all were Blood-Traitors.

It was understandable, whilst Mudbloods were of course vermin who should have been swept swiftly under the rug or better yet drowned at birth –her father had said on many occasions, it was Blood-Traitors who were the real embarrassment to the wizarding world, befriending Mudbloods was one thing, but attempting to create a mixture between magical and non-magical blood was an abomination to put it lightly, at least that's what Blaise had said, and what her parents had said, and of course that was _Draco_'s view on the subject as well, so who was Pansy to argue?

Blaise cringed for a moment before sighing, "As good as it could have gone, all things considered." He said in a reserved tone, but Pansy caught something in his voice that hopefully the other's had missed, it sounded distinctly like…reluctance.

"It must have been difficult, Mudblood and a Blood-traitor, personally I wouldn't have been about to stand it without hexing Patil." Rebecca said shaking her head, her somewhat pointed nose turning further upwards in disgust.

"At least you had the Ravenclaw, it's the Gryffindor one that irks me, it's bad enough being a Blood-traitor, but honestly how thick can you get?" Daphne sneered giving a sideways glance towards Crabbe who had been attempting to discreetly wipe the snot off of his nose with the sleeve of his robe.

Pansy shook her head getting bored with the conversation already; she pulled her head out of Tracey's reach. "Are you quite done yet Davis?" she asked her muscles ached from having sat still for so long.

"Excuse 'queen of the green'," Tracey retorted with an impatient roll of her eyes as she surveyed Pansy, who began to cringe at the less than creative name given to her Gryffindork peers –at least the nickname's she had for them held some sort of panaz (although Draco wouldn't admit it, it was Pansy who came up with 'Weaslebee').

"I still don't understand why we even have these meetings if their always about the same thing all the time." Daphne sighed as she watched herself through the full length mirror that hung beside her bed in the dormitory; she turned around half-heartedly tugging down the back of her skirt.

"_It's different this time._" Draco hissed at her as he looked up from his homework, "In case you hadn't noticed, we have actual _proof_ that the Dark Lord has returned, this isn't about _If's_, _But's_ and _maybe's_ anymore, everything we talk about, everything we discuss in those meetings is fact. But if you think they're so trivial Greengrass feel free to become absent to them."

That sent the room into an uncomfortable silence as everyone digested Draco's words, it sent a shiver running down Pansy's spine, she hadn't considered how close they were and the rapid speed at which everything was all happening, the idea of one day joining the Dark Lord, perhaps getting the mark herself had always been a distant fantasy, a delusion perhaps, something to threaten the fourth years with if they stepped out of line, it was something that would happen later on in life –after having already married Draco and producing three children (Leonardo, Alexia and Charles), and having the prospect of it being so close to her present, scared her senselessly.

"As riveting as this gathering has been, I think I'll be heading down to start the celebrations." Blaise sighed effectively ending the silence, as he walked towards the door, his talents at posing becoming more evident as he sauntered out of the room without sparing them so much as a backwards glance.

The Malfoy heir glared after him before continuing with plagiarising Pansy's work, for a long time nobody spoke about anything –unless you counted the mindless grunting that Millicent and Crabbe said to one another, which nobody really did.

"Personally I think you should let me do your make-up more often." Tracey quipped as she looked over her finished work, causing the 'pug faced' Slytherin to huff giving the girl a somewhat grateful smile.

From either sides of the room Daphne and Pansy regarded one another, they had both made an unspoken agreement long ago that whatever tiffs they had with one another were to be kept between them, they didn't want to risk encouraging girls like Tracey and Rebecca to get at each other's throats –although loyalty was not a trait that one normally associated with Slytherin it was considered an important factor during these dark times, when it became more and more apparent how truly alone the serpent house was.

At the back of the room Nott was busy pacing back and forth in the room, she was trying to gather up the courage to most likely brutally attack Zabini's mouth at tonight's celebratory party. "What if he doesn't like me?" She questioned looking up only to receive a collective eye roll.

"Listen Nott, just go up to him, kiss him, and stand back before he vomits." Daphne said with a supposedly 'reassuring' smile as she looked towards the lankier girl who was currently wearing a black dress that rested mid-thigh, personally Pansy felt that all it did was accentuate how much Rebecca was lacking in curves –and that she was almost a worrying shade of pale.

"Thanks for the moral support Greengrass." Rebecca said with a slight frown forming on her face as she ran a hand through her plain brown hair.

* * *

Coming down the staircase, the sound of music carried up into her ears and echoed across the stones. Pansy flinched slightly, it had been a good thing that Professor Snape didn't sleep close by or else this party would have been over before it had even truly begun.

The common room was rearranged to accommodate a party their size, with the couches and chairs pushed over to the sides of the room, the centre had been converted into a make shift dance floor where around a dozen students were hopping about to the beat.

She shook her head trying not to let the disgust show on her face as the melodramatic tune created by 'Cauldron Bubble' carried around the room, for the most part Pansy didn't agree with the music of her generation, created by the same people, about what were 'supposedly' incidents every 'normal' teenager experienced, she highly doubted there was a song named 'Help I might become a death eater in training'.

With a sigh she followed after Daphne as she led the way towards a group of sixth years who were gathered around their favourite spot in the common, where Draco had coincidently placed himself closest to the fireplace his grey eyes drifting blankly over the group of school students before fixating on a spot above their heads, his hands against his sides as he barely made a move to acknowledge their presence, more importantly Pansy's, though she could deceive herself into thinking it was the stress of what was happening to them that was making him so distant.

Theodore Nott –Rebecca's twin brother, had taken it upon himself to join them today, something that had never been a particularly regular occurrence seeming as Theodore felt he was somewhat above their so called 'childish' antics most likely he was only here to do a little more arse kissing due to the fact that his sister had most likely let him in on the supposedly 'quiet' tid-bit of information Draco had given them.

"So Draco have you decided which lucky girl you're going to 'ravage' tonight?" Daphne asked with a roll of her eyes as she looked over the boy in question –effectively breaking through the social barrier he had placed around himself, who smirked slouching a bit more in his seat before looking up at her.

"Why Greengrass, did you want a reminder of what you missed out on?" He winked at her.

Pansy swallowed looking towards the table of drinks she could tell that it was going to be a long night, and she would need as much fire whiskey as possible to have to endure yet another common room party where Draco would no doubt blow her off for some short skirt sporting bimbo from fifth year or perhaps seventh if he was persuasive enough.

She doubted she'd be able to stomach the thought of him and Daphne sneaking off into some stuffy corner of the room together, or worse having a public display of something neither of them were uneducated on.

"Of course not, besides I don't think you'd be quite able to fit through the staircase to our dorm." Daphne said with a slight smirk playing at her red lips, her fingers toying with the loose gold chain that hung around her neck.

"And why might that be Greengrass?" Draco said with a slight frown, Pansy could hear a slight snickering sound and looked over towards Theodore who was struggling to withhold laughter already seeming to know where Daphne's joke was headed.

"Because that ego of yours has a tendency to blow up at unexpected occasions." She replied earning a quiet laugh from their fellow Slytherin's; Pansy could only frown a little to herself as she looked down at her shoes.

Draco however seemed to find it highly amusing, or perhaps just about entertaining enough that the blonde girl required more of his attention, either way he shoot an expectant look at the boy beside him who hurriedly moved off of the sofa creating room for Daphne, it took all she had for Pansy not to feel her gag reflexes acting up again as Draco slung his arm around the taller girl.

"I'm heading over to get a drink." She announced, although if the group had noticed they paid her little attention apparently preferring to watch what was going on between Daphne and Draco play out, whilst Pansy wanted nothing more than to slap the inconspicuous freckles right off of her dorm-mates face; she strode over to the drink table choosing instead to wallow out her troubles in a mixture of butterbeer and fire-whiskey, choosing to stay safe –dare she get as drunk as Nott and do something as unspeakably embarrassing as writing Draco's name across her own feet.

Hurriedly Pansy poured herself a cup sipping at it tiredly, her eyes fixated on the couple across the room, it had seemed in her short absence Daphne had managed to work her way somewhere between sitting on Draco's lap and hanging off of his arm, and was currently busy crossing her obnoxiously long legs –the third long gulp of the night, she huffed her eyes focusing on the cup in front of her, feeling her throat become numb as the whisky made her insides tingle slightly.

It seemed to become more apparent to Pansy that she'd need to do something drastic in order to get Draco to pay her the attention he was currently giving a very undeserving Daphne, she could be petty like she had been in second year when she had managed to smuggle a tub of hair remover into a young Ravenclaw girl's shampoo –obviously earning the respect of her peers (the ones that mattered, not the Mudblood loving 'Saint Potter'), but that was beside the point what she needed now was a way to hold Draco's attention long enough that he'd see just how perfect they were with one another, and it seemed dressing like a stupid cow wouldn't quite cut it.

Her mind ran over all possibilities, but despite her horrendous personality, there wasn't anything particularly bad about Daphne that most pureblood men wouldn't be willing to overlook, she was beautiful –evidently she had a way of getting what she wanted, something that Pansy felt she needed to work three times as hard to achieve whereas girls like Daphne and Tracey had things handed over to them on a silver plate, everyone in Slytherin adored the blonde –ditzy as she may appear to be, and whilst they respected Pansy she wasn't quite sure where their loyalties stood with her.

She tensed slightly looking down at her cup.

Before she could dwell on the thought for too long an arm slung itself over her shoulder, she looked up at the slightly dazed eyes of Blaise Zabini, who smiled sheepishly down at her –she had always felt increasingly small around the boy and wondered how ant-like she must look to him through his drunken haze.

He twirled a strand of Pansy's hair around his finger and smirked. "Pansy, love. Why ever did you abandon that gorgeous short cut you had for so long?"

She glared at him and self-consciously smoothed her hair back and away from his fingers. "What are you trying to say about my hair?" Was he making fun of her? Because she spent what felt like hours applying that bloody sculpting-gel to her hair every night so that it would behave the next day.

Blaise shrugged. "Nothing. Rebecca was just saying— well, never mind. It doesn't matter."

"_What _did Nott say about my hair?" Pansy demanded instantly, sending the lanky girl a suspicious look from the corner of her eye. She hastily smoothed down what felt like a wayward curl sprouting up.

"Oh, she just mentioned that Patil and her Gryffindor buddies made some comments about your hair that made you grow it out."

Pansy could feel a blush creeping its way up her neck towards her face. "Nott doesn't know what she's talking about," she said struggling to maintain a stony expression.

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's good. Because I wouldn't like to think that you had let those silly fools get to you."

"Well, you bloody well don't have to," she snapped peevishly, giving Rebecca another pointed glare.

Zabini didn't necessarily look convinced.

When Millicent finally came hurrying over to them, Pansy was relieved. But then she flinched at broader girl's wardrobe choice. The skirt Millicent had chosen stretched unattractively across her stomach and did nothing to flatter her thick legs. She really needed to take the girl shopping on the next Hogsmeade trip –of course she highly doubted that would ever happen.

"Something wrong Pans?" Blaise asked his shoulders slouching a little more as his hand reached back towards her hair, causing the smaller girl to swat him away again.

"Nothing's wrong," she muttered. "I just don't think that the parties all that fun tonight." It wasn't really the party that was on her mind, but she wasn't about to admit to Blaise that she was still sulking over the insinuations about her hair.

Bloody Patil.

She looked back towards Millicent who seemed somewhat out of breath a large grin spread across her features, "You'll never guess what just happened." She said an air of excitement evident in her voice as she looked between the two of them with a slight grin, her eyes glancing towards a somewhat squirrelly Rebecca who was now edging closer to the trio.

"I don't particularly care for guessing games Bulstrode, so please save us the effort and spit it out." Blaise sighed as he leaned against the table unknowingly knocking over a bottle of Butterbeer with his large hands.

"This is a _party _after all Bulstrode, and I don't think anyone's particularly interested in your latest dietary plans." Rebecca snickered at the broad girl in front of her, taking mild pleasure watching Millicent's surprisingly thin eyebrows pull together in confusion. It was a wonder why Millicent put up with Rebecca's constant jabbing, with one small flick of her finger she could have the twig like girl on the floor snapped in half.

Pansy rolled her eyes as she looked back at Millicent choosing instead to wait for the girl to speak it was the least she could do now that the girl had saved her from a truly atrociously embarrassing moment.

"I-I was walking out… of the kitchens…" Millicent panted her face still flushed as she rested a hand on her side, "A-And we-well… I caught Potter and his mates up to something…and well I followed them out…" she snickered a little, "That Ginger one was snogging Brown in the classroom, sent Granger into a right fit."

"But of course we all find that riveting." Rebecca said sarcastically, as she looked towards Blaise seemingly to share a whole hearted grin with the taller boy; instead she found him wiggling his eyebrows towards a blushing fifth year girl who turned to face her friend –no doubt talking about that arrogant Zabini boy, before striding his way over without so much as a glance in their direction.

"Need a tissue?" Pansy offered with mock sympathy taking delight in the realisation that someone else's night was turning out to be just as horribly as her own; the bitterness that once again Draco did not seem to share the same ideations of how the night was supposed to turn out only strengthened the blow as she looked over towards the fireplace.

From across the room it had become clear that whatever intentions she had planned out for the young Malfoy heir had immediately become void, as she watched him and Daphne violate her favourite seat on the plush green sofa.

"No, but you might." Rebecca retorted as her eyes strayed towards the lust-stricken couple.

'_Cringe_.' Pansy thought to herself, unsure what was more horrific the fact that Draco and Daphne were seemingly on the edge of tearing away one another's clothing, or the fact that Nott had made a clever remark, she slumped slightly before taking another large gulp of fire-whisky.

"C'mon Bulstrode let's go take a jab at Granger." She sighed grabbing the girl by the wrist and pulling her towards the exit of the common room, not caring whether her firm grip left marks, she was distraught after all and Millicent would only be a good –loosely called, friend if she allowed Pansy to let out her frustrations.

No matter how petty they may be.

* * *

"…For example, I smell freshly mown grass and peppermint…toothpaste..." Hermione Granger whispered as she leaned in closer to the brewing cauldron, the sweet aroma of the love potion having taken an effect on almost every girl in the room, with the exception of Pansy of course, she herself refused to let it seduce her.

She didn't need to stick her nose down the side of the cauldron like Granger had almost succeeded in doing up until Professor Slughorn had swiftly shut the lid on the potion, she already had a good idea of what smells she would inhale, it would be like the smell she got just before the rain fell, the scent she would get breath in in gulps whenever she waited outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, it would be the clean smell of after shave and Sculpting Gel, all she'd be able to smell was Draco Malfoy if she leaned inside of that cauldron.

She watched with focused eyes as Slughorn strode about the class, today he would most likely be confirming who he'd allow into his precious 'Slug Club' the idea of being a member never really seemed as appealing to Pansy as it was to other students; Potter was a definite candidate with his sudden aptitude for Potions –it was a shock because even during Snape's classes he was behind Granger, and then of course there was Draco who squared his shoulders as Slughorn strode past him.

"Today I'd like you all to make 'Draught of the Living Dead'; each of you has been assigned your specific work stations." Slughorn said looking towards them all, the eagerness in his voice no doubt directed towards Potter –it felt like more of a test of Harry's skill than a class assignment, never the less Pansy trudged tiredly behind Finnigan as she made her way towards her walk station, but the boy was walking so slowly it was beginning to press on her patience.

"Merlin! Are all Gryffindors so egotistical that they can't handle the idea that _some _of us actually want to achieve more than an 'E for effort' Finnigan?" She snapped, causing the boy to frown but still he moved aside for her, as she walked past Pansy could have sworn she heard him mutter something along the lines of '_I didn't realise You-Know-Who cared about marks_'.

She shot the boy a look before heading over to her work station, admittedly she may have still been blowing off some steam about what had happened on Saturday night, and although she had treated Draco no differently, she had made a point of avoiding being alone in the same room as Daphne, something the girl barely seemed aware of she was still in her blissful gloating stage, sending Pansy what she was sure were 'sympathetic looks'.

_Blithering idiot._

Thankfully Daphne wasn't in advanced Potions, she didn't quite have the marks and had chosen instead to take 'Divinations', which suited her perfectly as it required no real skill in Pansy's mind.

She opened up her book and stared down at the pages, across from her she could see Potter had already begun counting the amount of valerian roots he would add to his potion, she frowned a little trying her best to keep her attention on her work, but it was so much easier trying to mimic the half-blood, who seemed to have a better understanding of what he was doing in the class than other's even Draco.

So for the remainder of the lesson Pansy allowed herself to watch the 'Chosen One' and try to duplicate his work.

* * *

**A/N: **Hello faithful readers! First of all I'd like to appologise for the lateness of this chapter, I had the first half ready for a while but I have a word goal to acheive because if it's too short I find stories boring and I hoped that you didn't feel that way about this chapter, as for the development of Pansy/Harry it's on it's way, I just don't want to force the couple onto one another, because Pansy is far to Pro-Pureblood at the moment for them to have any mutual ground, but don't worry you won't have to wait too long!

Anyway I'd like to say a big thankyou to **everyone **who reviewed or read, alerted or favourited this story thankyou all very much :)

I'd also like to say a big thankyou to **unnamed visitor **who always leaves lovely reviews and great suggestions, I hope that you noticed some of your ideas were incorporated into this chapter :)

I'd also like to say thankyou to the following reviewers:

**Myloxylotone**

**Reviewer003**

**Slytherin Potter**

**Violet Saphira Darling**

**LuvsReadingForever**

Please don't be shy, tell me any ideas or suggestions you'd like to see in the next chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter *le sigh*


	4. Ambition

"And Power-hungry Slytherin loved those of great Ambition." –The Sorting Hat

* * *

***The summer leading up to Fifth year***

_"For Merlin's sake Nott, catch the bloody thing!" Daphne called over the high winds that blew Pansy slightly from her position on her broom despite her knees locked tightly around the wooden object, down below her, Pansy was able to make out the faint out loud of the handsome Manor below, the distorted image of yet another albino peacock roaming along the yew hedges made her smile._

_She was almost dizzily unaware of the of the hurtling Bludger heading in her direction, and as swift turn to her right and a hair rising whack with the bat from Zabini, she managed to avoid falling to her death at a distance of 50 feet, the mist that hung about the architectural genius almost seemed to cloak them further from the neighbouring Muggle towns –excluding the muggle repellent charms Draco's ancestors had drawn within a 50 or so mile radius of the home. _

_Pansy's hands felt numb, and her ears and nose felt far too red and exposed for her liking, however she tried not to dwell on her imperfections too long, her eyes were too busy scanning the sky for the Golden Snitch, Tracey's shrill squeals as she edged further from her defensive position of Draco's teams' goal hoops meant that her own team were much further ahead than she had previously anticipated._

_Currently the scores were 50-20._

_On her team were Daphne, Blaise, Rebecca and Goyle._

_On Draco's were Tracey, Crabbe, Theodore and Millicent._

_Both teams were evenly disadvantaged._

_"Move it people! I'm sure Creevy's gran has more life in her, and for she's a muggle for fuck's sake!" Daphne yelled out once more, she had taken to the over use of obscenities after her aunt had taken her to see a particularly provocative play, apparently it showed more than brief nudity –something her parent's hadn't known about when they gave her permission._

_Pansy dove down nearer towards the more stereotypical looking mermaid fountain, her quivering hand outstretched in front of her, as she dared her Firebolt to leap further forward –after several months of pleading her parents had given into the idea that she simply needed a Firebolt upon her visit to the Malfoy's during the summer, her mother had of course been more lenient to the idea it was her father who didn't seem able to understand his daughter's latest whim._

_The wind and 'spit' (spit being another word for slight rain, barely present but there non-the-less) raced against her ears causing all other sounds to fall on deaf ear drums, her heart was racing wildly within her chest, Draco was ahead of her of course, his prized Slytherin robes billowed in the wind as he swerved expertly as though he were already able to determine the next movement of the winged ball before it itself had even contemplated it_

_Pansy was already well aware of the fact that she would most likely be unable to even catch a decent glimpse of the snitch in flight before Draco caught it, however the impact of her putting up an adequate fight for it would be enough for her to be able to bask in the warmth of Draco's praise, temporarily. _

_She alongside Tracey, the Notts, Bulstrode and Daphne had been invited alongside the Zabinis –Blaise and his mother, and The Goyles –Greg and his parents, to come around for the day, the invitation had not of course extended to their parents._

_However Violet –Pansy's mother, had decided that it was only a matter of time that she herself be invited along privately to one of Narcissa's famous tea parties, similarly to her daughter Violet suffered from the idealism that Pansy was already a Malfoy in waiting._

_It was her who had initially introduced the two Slytherin's to one another, much to Narcissa's dismay._

_Mrs Parkinson was five or so years younger than Mrs Malfoy, and portrayed an ever present eagerness to please her, she had anticipated Lucius' marriage to Narcissa with almost as much anxiousness as she had anticipated her own, during the times in which Lucius was a well-known and highly desirable 'playboy-ish' bachelor Violet similar to many other young women of her time had fancied him a great deal, however it didn't come as much of a surprise to her when Narcissa Black whom she had idolised as being the only remaining Black remaining at Hogwarts –excluding Regulus and Sirius' side of the family, and who was something of a Socialite went on to marry him._

_According to Violet although Narcissa had been in the final years of her education when she had enrolled into the school, she can distinctively remember conversations –more likely over heard, of Narcissa reminiscing over time spent with Lucius over the summer, and Pansy's mother being as intuitive as she was knew from that moment on wards that Lucius and Narcissa were destined in fact, she was so certain of it, she had won a 100 galleon prize through Witch Weekly for submitting them her guess of the wedding date._

_It only came as a slight shock that just as she was leaving her seventh year of Hogwarts –fresh from school, she fell pregnant with her soon to be husband and long term boyfriend Thomas' child, it came as an even greater shock –she had apparently almost fainted with glee over the news, that Lucius and Narcissa were also expecting a child._

_And a mere two months separating the births, Pansy and Draco came into the world._

_With a mother as fanatical and ambitious as Violet it was a wonder Pansy had turned out the way she had._

* * *

***presently***

Pansy sat in platonic silence as she pushed her food around on her plate, she had purposely sat so she was facing the Gryffindor table, it was an excuse for her to zone out of the mind numbing conversation that was taking place around her, and it was also an excuse for her to sneer whenever Daphne or Draco spoke to one another without anyone sending her one of their so called pitiful glances.

She sighed glancing down at her bagel feeling as though every bite required more effort than she was willing to give, her Herbology book was set out in front of her but despite the slight movement of the somewhat boring Venus-fly-trap, she still couldn't bring herself to focus on anything, it seemed like the day was just moving in slow motion around her.

Tracey's sudden laugh jerked her back into the current situation, she narrowed her eyes slightly at the auburn haired girl who was busy looking towards a passing seventh year couple, Adrastea Doherty and Sean Champion had been in an on and off again relationship since fourth year, most of the time it seemed that they were both more interested in the melodrama of their relationship than the idea of actually being with one another, currently it seemed they were on the verge of yet another public break up.

"Well then why don't you tell me why I found this, in your dorm?!" Adrastea exclaimed dramatically pulling out a set of feather like ear rings from the pocket of her robes and dangling them in front of Sean's face, as a group of Ravenclaw girls –presumably friends of Adrastea, took it upon themselves to add gasps of shock which soon had a majority of the hall whispering amongst themselves as Sean balled his hands into fists as his, an angry red blush began working its way up his neck.

"I don't know, that seems like one of those dangly things you always seem to be pinning to yourself." He shot back shaking his head at her.

"I do _not _wear fake earrings, unlike some girls I know like Cathy." Doherty spat in return causing more heads to turn towards the tense Hufflepuff girl who was now looking panicked towards Sean, the latter didn't even glance her way in return.

"Like Cathy? So what?! In case you haven't noticed Adra, I do _share _a room; she could have gotten off with anyone." Sean snapped turning away and storming angrily out of the hall, with a mildly shocked Adrastea and a small group of Ravenclaws trailing behind them.

Pansy smirked slightly to herself; it seemed that Ravenclaw wasn't quite as 'greater-than-thou' as they seemed.

"Trouble in paradise again." Draco smirked as he raised his glass towards his lips and smoothly swallowed down his pumpkin juice.

Despite herself, Pansy sent a sideways glance in Daphne's direction, watching as the blonde let a smile slip across her face –during the past few days that ever present arrogant smile of what almost boarder lined on pity was ever present on Daphne's face whenever she looked towards Pansy, and each time Pansy had to dig her finger nails into the palms of her hands to avoid the ever present itch to reach across the table and drag Greengrass across the room by her luscious blond hair.

"Honestly, I'm pretty sure the only reason they get together is so that they can break-up again." Daphne added taking an identical swig of her own pumpkin juice.

Rebecca let out a short shrill like laugh that made Pansy's insides churn a little.

The owl post chose that moment to arrive, and Pansy glanced up with more than the usual feeling of trepidation. There was no good news that could come from the owl post; especially not today. She didn't want to hear from her parents. Even if her father _had_ gotten the promotion, then it wouldn't do Pansy any good seeming as she was resolved to never speaking to a certain arrogant blonde ever again –whether or not she meant Draco or Daphne didn't matter to her anymore, they were both effectively dead to her.

Predictably, a familiar owl dropped a letter directly into Pansy's porridge. Millicent and Tracey at least had the decency to cover and turn their faces away before they snickered; of course Rebecca being as slow as she usually was, gave out the shrill laugh of her's again gaining her a swift scowl from Pansy who hesitantly peeled away the letter from her bowl, shooting the bird a foul look as he cocked his head towards her.

"You're expecting a reward of some kind, aren't you, Charleston?" she growled.

She was met by a blank stare from the barn owl.

Pansy gave a disgusted sigh and offered the bird a piece of toast, which it took and flew off without so much as a by your leave. She shook her head as she watched it return toward her mother's correspondence room back home. Paying more for the "best" was clearly overrated.

She opened the previously crisp white envelope and clenched her teeth together hoping it would give her a look of monotone to whatever news she received, however she could practically feel the anxiety radiating from others around her, and didn't need to glance up to know that even Draco's eyes were focused on her, and Pansy didn't hesitate to reveal in the feeling of his undivided attention.

"Draco," Came the distinctive voice of Vaisey Urquhart, who had now replaced Montague as both a Chaser and Captain for the Slytherin team, Urquhart brushed his choppy dark hair back before looking appraisingly at the Malfoy heir, the distinctive hand shaped mark around his neck suggested that he too had had a less than pleasant holiday.

Pansy looked up towards Draco who had now diverted his gaze towards Urquhart, and watched as the usual wayward smirk came across his pale features, she could see how his chest almost seemed to square even beneath his school robes, and the way he almost seemed to draw complete attention to his askew green and silver tie without even touching it –it was one of the things she had marveled in last year during their brief but sacred time together spent as prefects.

"Urquhart." He replied equally as distinctive, his arm which had previously been draped around Daphne's shoulder like an ill-fitting shawl was now set down stiffly onto the wooden table top, "I believe we've already had this discussion before, my answer is still the same. No."

Vaisey at least had the self-control not to look too shocked or perhaps unsettled by Draco's words, however despite his best efforts the vein on his temple seemed to double in size, despite no longer taking a keen interest in the sport of Quidditch since Draco's sudden departure from the team, Pansy was still aware of how hard it was to find a decent seeker especially considering how eager the first years had gotten since the Toss-pot, had managed to make school history by being the youngest seeker in a century.

"What about you Crabbe? Still up for knocking some sense into a few of our fellow students?" Vaisey asked the corners of his lips pulled up into what was intended to be a persuading smile however reeked of desperation and pumpkin pasties to anyone with a brain, fortunately for Urquhart, Crabbe was very easily convinced on most occasions.

"He hasn't got the time." Draco answered, in a tone that rivaled that of a well-rehearsed theatre director.

Urquhart let out a shaky breath through his nostrils, his gaze momentarily moving towards Goyle before thinking better of it once more and turning back towards Draco, his dark eyes narrowing, whilst Draco's pale eyebrow was raised in mock engrossment, the elder boy gave a curt nod towards the rest of the table before stalking away.

Leaving an awkward silence in his wake.

It was Tracey who had managed to break it, "So Pans, what's it about?" She said propping her elbows up against the table, her breakfast had long since grown cold after the recent entertainment provided by their fellow students, however the drama didn't quite seem to satisfy Davis' itch for trivia.

All eyes were once again turned towards her, some –Crabbe and Goyle's in particular, seemingly more eager for the swift change in topic, Pansy however paused taking the time to momentarily revile once more in the undivided attention, her hands clasping a little firmer to her letter, she took what she had hoped appeared to be a coy look around the room before allowing her gaze to settle momentarily on Draco, the blonde however remained unresponsive, Daphne in contrast seemed to shift almost uncomfortably.

"None of your business you insufferable Pigmypuff." Pansy smirked a little in response to Tracey; she had made up her mind. Regardless of whether or not her news was worthy of sharing to the group, she would retain a slight air of mystery by keeping it to herself, the less people who knew the better, it made her ability to keep her mouth shut –a trait both Daphne and all the other girls of their circle, excluding Millicent lacked.

"It's probably just your Mum, writing to say that once again, she's having a jolly time _not _being invited over to Narcissa's tea… _Again._" Daphne piped up, resulting in a small wave of snickering spreading from Rebecca right down to Goyle, even Draco's lips twitched up into a slight smile at that, and he turned his head back towards the blonde beauty, and leaning in –in a way in which Pansy had only literally dreamt of him doing to her, whispered into her ear before placing what looked like a meticulous kiss against her ivory neck.

Pansy snorted with mock amusement –an act she would later berate herself for. "Actually Greengrass, my mother is not as pathetic as to worry herself over such trivial thing as 'social climbing', especially over some poxy tea."

Merlin's beard, would Draco hate her now? She had just undermined his mother's tea, the idea of apologizing for it had popped into her mind briefly, honestly she was sure that Narcissa's tea tasted brilliant; and who cared if perhaps she was telling a faint lie, who cared if there was the slightest possibility that the Malfoy family had made Violet as eager to please as they had made Pansy.

Rebecca all but gasped at Pansy's words, and Draco's lips paused momentarily from their occupation caressing Daphne's ears, both blonde's gazes turned towards her, as though each were as uncertain of what measure of retribution they should take against her blasphemy.

The brunette however, wasn't too eager to linger much longer, she pushed herself up from her spot on the bench, grabbed her Herbology text book with both hands, clamping the pages against one another once more before stowing them disorganized into her bag, she reached forward, shoving her letter into the pocket of her robe, before reaching out for her essay, her unsteady hands knocking the ink forward and allowing the onyx liquid to flourish across the table.

She almost let out a growl of frustration, feeling somewhat hot tears begin to form in her eye sockets, however not from sadness from anger at her own severe lack of self-control and how desperately she wished to be able to reach forward and grind Daphne's –and in this case Draco's as well, face against the ink stained table.

She retrieved the remains of her now thoroughly blemished essay with some of her remaining ferocity and pivoted.

She marched determinedly out of the hall, sparing no-one so much as a backwards glance.

* * *

She didn't look at Draco, nor did she acknowledge Daphne as Professor Sprout lectured the class about their current assignment for the day, to gather Foxglove, she barely felt the urge to toss an insult Finnegan's way –he was looking much too happy for her liking.

In fact her lunch time experienced seemed to have left Pansy feeling so discouraged that she had lowered herself to getting the equipment, something Potter merely raised his stubby eyebrows at in response.

As they walked the familiar passage through the heavily blooming trees that had previously led them to the fortune of meeting Sidebottom and 'she-who-should-be-strung-up-by-her-knickers', this time however the thick layer of trees only seemed to increase the tension between the Slytherin Princess and The Boy Who lived, as they walked in a mutual silence, neither acknowledging the other, which saved them from an afternoon full of begrudging insults.

Pansy's eyes glanced down towards her shoes, she paused for a moment amusing herself with the idea of what Dumbledore's response would have been if a wild batch of Devil's Snare had managed to enslave Greengrass on her expedition, when Potter finally opened his mouth to speak.

"I take it you saw Sean and Adrastea this morning." He said coolly, his tone neither conveying a heavy dosage of prejudice nor a friendlier atmosphere.

"If this is your way of presenting me with humdrum chit-chat Potter, I think I'll pass."

Harry's brows pulled together, and for a moment his glasses seemed to slide further down his nose as he glanced at her before kicking the dirt with his feet as they continued on, it was at least another five minutes of half-hearted searching on both their parts before he spoke again.

"What did you think of that match the other night, between Puddlemere and Cork?" He asked.

"Between who and who?" Pansy asked glancing back at him over her shoulder as she poked a cautious stick towards what looked to her to be a slightly malnourished yew bush.

"Puddlemere and Cork… you know the Quidditch teams." Potter said with what she assumed was his attempt at a civil or perhaps somewhat exasperated sigh.

"Do I look like I mindlessly troll through the sports pages of The Daily Prophet?" The Slytherin asked shooting him an almost affronted look, however there was that brief time during third year when she had in the hopes that due to the upcoming buzz over the Quidditch World cup, Draco might think she was interesting enough to even consider inviting, it had worked for a short period of time until she had mixed up Cybèle Peltier and Alexiei Levski.

"I dunno, you might be so interesting as to have a hobby, or perhaps this whole ice-cold bitch thing isn't simply an exterior, it's just you." The Gryffindor shot back.

Pansy narrowed her eyes turning completely towards him, her temper once again rising, perhaps now she might have taken on some sort of steely expression as she stared him down –and he mirrored her, her hands were clenched tightly to her side.

"Listen Pot-head, unlike you _some _of us can't just float by because we managed to get a weather designed scar stupidly placed onto our undersized foreheads." She retorted, her hands were eager to reach into her robes and feel the familiarity of her wand as it submitted to her every whim.

Harry snorted, his green eyes rolled behind the protection of their circular glasses, and his lips pulled up into a slight smirk, half caught between mild offense and to the same extent, amusement. "Oh really, and what is it exactly that the _rest _of you get by on? Inbreeding and a worrying affection for green?"

Pansy felt her blood boil a bit more at that comment, perhaps if her day had been somewhat more accommodating and perhaps if she didn't have the slight threat of yet another misdemeanor on her part against Draco, than maybe she would have appreciated Potter's words as less insulting and aggravating, and a little bit more well-crafted.

"Better than polluting and a cynical sense of superiority due to your own affection for red."

"Oh right, angst, a Slytherin's alternative to real problems." Harry said crossing his arms over his chest, he took on a look of self-satisfaction that Pansy had only truly seen on Draco's face before, an expression that only seemed to come onto his face when he had ruffled up Weasley to the point in which he was told to leave the class, or out witting a cocky fourth year.

And if _The Chosen One_, thought he had even the faintest idea about real problems, he was highly mistaken, the world was nothing compare to insincere smiles shared between two teenage girls, to the feeling that over took you when a former friend betrayed you, to the continuous battle for power, attention, boys, sex, to be the funniest, to be the pretties, to hide all flaws and imperfections, to the embarrassment and shame you'd have to undergo for days after the slightest bad hair day.

The dark-lord could take a few pointers from Pansy if he really wanted to know how to derail a Hogwarts student's spirits.

"Real problems?" The Brunette found herself repeating, her voice coming out somewhat harsher than she had intended however it seemed to do the trick, Potter's smile did seem to waver if not briefly. "As if _you _would know about real problems! Hogwarts is like your kingdom, oh boohoo Snape doesn't like me, oh boohoo Umbridge said I was wrong, oh Dumbledore, oh McGonagall, you've even got the _house elves _siding with you, what on earth would you know about _real problems _Toss-pot!"

Harry's face seemed to flush red with an equal bout of anger as he stared back at Pansy, his hands balled up into fists and he opened his mouth as though to bombard her with a rain of night terrors that he had experienced during his time saving the school –on numerous occasions, however he seemed to think better of it, and with much self-restraint turned on his heel.

"I'm going to check the south end." He said with gritted teeth, before stalking away once more.

Pansy was left, face still flushed with anger, hands still clenched, however hot tears of frustration had managed to spill over this time.

* * *

**A/N:** Hello, I hope none of you have lost faith or hope in the story and I apologize profoundly for the lateness of this chapter, a lot of fragments of it where written much, much earlier however I struggled to put them together, again I'm sorry.

I had some trouble continuing on with the story not from lack of trying but from a bad case of writers block, I had many ideas on how this chapter should go, however I had trouble either holding them long enough to write them down, or making them into decipherable sentence.. but the story must continue I hope that you enjoyed the increase in communication between Harry and Pansy, initially it was supposed to end on a bit of a friendlier note than that believe it or not.

I'd like to say _THANKYOU _to everyone who has taken the time to read this story, review, favourite and follow it, it genuinely means a lot to me :')

I'd also like to say a special thank you to the following:

_Unnamed visitor – thank you for your detailed reviews and insights and suggestions, they're much appreciated, and thank you for being patient with me_

_Morbid17 –thank you, I do try to make Pansy's reactions seem as realistic as possible, and I'm glad you think she's so palpable _

_To all the anonymous reviewers:_

_I'm not entirely sure on making Harry anti-muggle mainly due to the fact that I am trying to keep his character more or less the same in his beliefs as he is the good guy *trying not to give too much away*, but he is the good guy in comparison to Draco for Pansy_

_Thank you, I'm trying to keep the story at a reasonable pace, as I'm quite anxious to write more Harry/Pansy, however they're so different, that they really need time in order to see each other as slightly more than they originally thought, they're both very stubborn people._

_I had to use google translate and I believe what you wrote was "long time no update" or something along those lines, and I'm sorry I will try to update more regularly now._

_Thank you very much _

_Thank you_

_Thank you _

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter.


	5. Adventure

_I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony, but I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff._

-Ron Weasley

* * *

If there was one thing that Pansy Parkinson didn't like to indulge in, then it was regret.

It was a nasty little thing that regret. It left a bad taste in her mouth. It led to useless whining and discontent.

She loathed the wretched emotion.

So, naturally, regret was one of the only things that Pansy battled most with. However, she really did hate the stuff.

It wasn't so much a matter of conscience. She understood how things worked, and there were certain necessities to her life that weren't her fault. She hadn't _asked_ to be born into her family. She hadn't _asked_ to be enrolled in a boarding school that admitted Mudblood filth, much less become involved in catty affairs with her fellow Slytherins, but such was her life, if she had been given the choice, she most definitely wouldn't be in her current predicament.

She was just as much a victim of circumstance as anyone else in this day and age.

However her banners were green, and that was enough reason for prejudice amongst the school –she wouldn't acknowledge the irony of it all.

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, Slytherins did not enjoy spending their time lurking around in dark corners and shadows.

Of course, that didn't mean that they _didn't_ lurk around in dark corners and shadows. They just didn't necessarily _enjoy_ it. And as much fun as these clandestine meetings could be, Pansy preferred the ones that didn't occur in the Forbidden Forest… at night.

She shivered drawing her cloak tighter around her body and pressing her back against the brittle and unforgiving form of the tree behind her, -for a half-giant games keeper who also seemed to have taken up teaching about the these despicable forests you'd think that oath Hagrid would keep the place in better shape, however Pansy had succumbed to the knowledge that she'd no longer be able to wear this cloak after tonights so called '_festivities'. Besides if_ she _had_ to be in the Forbidden Forest after dark—or at _all_— then she wasn't going to leave her back unguarded, even at the expense of her French cloak, who knew whom or what was lurking around in the darkness that wasn't— or _was_— a fellow Slytherin that was just waiting for an opportunity to attack her from behind?

"Why did he want us to meet him out here?" Rebecca asked, as her frantic eyes swept over the somewhat ominous looking trees, whilst her hand rested awkwardly on her –loosely called, hip.

"For the privacy, obviously," Daphne said, looking just as edgy as they all felt. They were barely _in_ the forest, and the slightest noise would probably cause them to scurry away like frightened little House Elves. "Makes sense. There aren't going to be any spies or eavesdroppers in here at this time of night."

Whilst a part of Pansy had to admit that Daphne made a valid point, the other part of her, the far more bitter part that had still yet to forgive the blonde for the rumours that had been circulating around the school, regarding Daphne's unlady-like exploits in the room of requirement with a rather chuffed looking Malfoy heir.

It's amazing how the heart makes no noise when it breaks.

"You'd be surprised, I bet this is the time when that half-breed comes out for a midnight snack with his centaur friends." Pansy countered, it didn't help to lighten the mood at all but it had the desired effect, Daphne was looking as worrisome as she had in third year when Tracey had told her about Sirius Black's liking of little blonde girls.

"For Merlin's sake where is he?" Tracey asked her nose red and her eyes watery, her hair had seen better days, according to her the wind made it curl –which was a nicer term for frizz uncontrollably, similarly to Pansy who would continuously try patting her hair down with her hand out of paranoia.

They were still in sight of the castle, but there was no hint of that platinum blonde head anywhere.

"He didn't tell you _anything_ about why we're out here?" Rebecca asked Daphne, coming up closer towards the blonde, as though she were trying to huddle for warmth.

Daphne who on most occasions would use this as an opportunity to boast about her adventures with the Malfoy heir shook her head in the negative, her teeth chattering slightly from the cold, she had delivered Draco's message to her roommates, but other than that, she had kept her distance from the lot of them.

She was in no form of mind for their _'juvenile'_ company, or better put Pansy's company, because whilst Tracey would giggle and share her own stories of dramatic liaisons, and Rebecca would be in awe of her, Pansy and her seemingly loyal follower Millicent –which was pathetic enough as it was without further detail into it all, would feign indifference.

"Are you sure?" Rebecca pressed, sounding more curious than concerned.

Daphne gave her a resentful look and moved away to rub her arms and pace restlessly, being sure to keep an eye on the surrounding darkness. "Of course I'm fucking sure Nott, we're not all so gormless as to let something like the reason we're currently freezing to death slip our minds."

Tracey snorted her agreement. "I say that we give him five more minutes before we go back in. Then, we'll snub him tomorrow in retaliation for this."

"You think that he's playing a joke on us?" Millicent asked, looking alarmed.

"What would he have to gain from that?" Pansy sensibly pointed out. "If we got caught out here, then we'd lose house points for Slytherin." And Draco's almost obsessive need to best Potter wouldn't allow for him to be the reason Slytherin lost the house cup, _again_.

Tracey merely huffed, however she remained silent as they all watched the trees sway forming ominous shadows on the ground and stiffed slightly at the sound a hooting owl or a snapping twig.

"I think we've entertained the idea of them getting here tonight long enough, I think it's time to go back to our warm beds," Rebecca, apprehensively as she looked at the group, they murmured stiffly in agreement.

Pansy wanting nothing more than to wrestle her hair back into submission with Sulpting-Jel, and hope that the cold hadn't made it brittle.

"That won't be necessary," said a voice from behind them.

There was a collective scream, and they all jumped away from the figure emerging from the woods.

Daphne, who had seen the approach, deftly caught Pansy's wrist as the brunette used her free hand in an effort to grab at her wand, she was hex away from castrating the unknown presence.

"It's my fool of a brother," Rebecca said hastily. "It's _Theodore_!" she yelled over her shoulder to Millicent and Tracey, who were already halfway across the lawns. They stopped at Rebecca's shout and peered dubiously back at them.

Theodore strode forward to the edge of the shadows, where they met the moonlit grass, and hissed as loudly as he could without actually shouting, "Get your back here!" He turned to his sister and gave Rebecca a small shove that had it been hard enough may have just snapped the girl in half. "_You_! What do you think you're doing, yelling at the top of your lungs? Why don't we just invite the entire castle?"

It seemed rather uncharacteristic for Theodore to be this blunt or frantic about the situation often it was him who preferred to be on the sidelines however, he had gained a sense of gusto in being in Draco's presense and he had become the second most tolerable boy in the group, behind Blaise who was first –a spot previously given to Draco but it seemed that the mere sight of him lately was enough to churn and delight Pansy's insides.

"What the hell were you doing in there?" Tracey asked him gesturing towards the bush where he was most likely lurking around, her embarrassment at having attempted to escape with _Bulstrode _none-the-less was enough for her to eagerly try to reassert some dominance over the situation.

"The fuck, Nott?" Daphne said angrily, before looking at Pansy, the two girls swiftly released their hold on one another, and stepped apart leaving a gap between them as they tried to gather their bearings, it wasn't as though either was ready to be friends/allies again.

"Was that supposed to be funny?" Tracey injected.

"Not as funny as watching you running away," he said dryly. "Nice display of cowardice, Davis."

"You're confusing my house with the one whose occupants would be stupid enough to stand still—" She shot a contemptuous glance at Rebecca, who had somewhat frozen out of fear, "—to be eaten by a werewolf." She pointed her wand threateningly at him, and his eyes widened. "But call me a coward again, Nott."

Pansy rolled her eyes and pulled Tracey's arm down. "You didn't answer the question, Nott. What were you doing in there?"

"The real question," he said with a wary glance at Tracey, "is why the lot of you are standing out here when you were _supposed_ to meet us _in_ the Forbidden Forest." He said looking around at the group, who turned their heads away slightly.

"We are _in_ the Forbidden Forest," Rebecca said defensively.

Theodore shook his headand crossed the two feet until he was standing on the lawn and technically outside of the Forbidden Forest. "Look, now I'm two steps away from as _in _the forbidden forest as you."

"Choke on it, Nott," Daphne spat.

"Where's Malfoy?" Pansy demanded, pulling his attention back to her.

"He's actually _in_ the Forbidden Forest, which is where we all are supposed to be about now."

"You left him _alone_ in there?" Pansy burst out. She had a terrifying –and mildly amusing, mental image of Draco, alone and frightened, being stalked by some hideous beast.

"No, Crabbe and Goyle are in there with him," he said, sounding unimpressed, "but I'm glad to see how concerned you are with _my_ welfare, Parkinson."

"Please," Tracey said with a roll of her eyes. "When _your_ inheritance grows large enough to actually sprout legs and run away by itself to the Caribbean, then we'll worry about _you_."

"You're too pasty for the Caribbean," Theodore said coolly, causing Tracey to look practically thunderstruck, pasty was the last thing she wanted to be and Theodore knew that as well as the rest of them. "Besides, some people can't afford to be as _choosey_ as they once hoped." He was speaking to Tracey, but the look he gave Pansy made her stiffen.

_Dream on, Nott_, she thought angrily, _because I'd marry an Italian cousin long before I'd ever willingly lay a finger on you. Just call me Signora Pansy Paravita. I'll send you a pizza._

"Are you all just going to stand there, or are you coming?" Theodore asked impatiently.

"I am _not_ going in _there_," Rebecca said with a fearful glance at the darkness between the trees. There was a tacit agreement from her roommates.

"Then you can stay here to get picked off," Theodore said in a demonstration of brotherly concern. Without further ado, he turned and disappeared between the trees.

The girls exchanged hesitant glances.

"Who's for leaving them in there to die?" Tracey prompted hopefully.

There were cautious smiles as they pretended that they weren't considering it.

"I mean, if it was just _Theodore_," Rebecca said, mirroring that sibling protectiveness they all knew she was capable of, and her eagerness to jump on board with any idea.

"Yeah, but Crabbe and Goyle wouldn't stand a chance," Millicent said rather reluctantly, they all rolled their eyes, they knew about Millicent's both horrific and somewhat endearing view on the entity that was Crabbe.

"And we'd never find out what Malfoy wanted," Daphne reminded them.

No one moved, not from lack of compassion, because surely if it came down to it Pansy would be one of the first inside of the forest, had the situation been different and had she currently not been attempting to shun the boy.

"Were those our only motivations?" Tracey asked disappointedly.

"Well, there's always the chance that someone or some_thing_ witnessed us coming out here," Pansy offered. "If that were the case, and if the boys were never seen again, then there's a chance that we'd be implicated in their murder trials."

"They'd never convict us," Daphne countered, with a flip of her blonde hair which Pansy longed to chop off, and a look of unconcealed superiority.

"Well, do you really want to trust the rest of your life to a freshly graduated law wizard?" Pansy asked skeptically. "Because I'm going to be using _all_ of the best defense advocates for my legal team, and I'm not sharing any of them with you lot."

"I'm trembling," Daphne replied as she stared down at the girl, both on the verge of dropping the pretense of politeness for an opportunity to truly rip into each other.

"Are we going in or not?" Millicent asked timidly, bringing them back to the issue at hand.

They individually weighed their options until Pansy finally sighed in resignation. She muttered _Lumos_ and said grudgingly, "We'd better hurry before we lose him."

"We're all going to die," Rebecca said mournfully.

"This is so against our natures," Tracey moaned before pausing, "Minus Millicent's of course, I'm sure she's used to hunting through the forest in her pass time."

Not even Bulstrode tried to defend that comment.

With their wands raised, the girls huddled together and bravely— or _not_ so bravely— rushed into the dark unknown in an effort to catch up with Theodore.

They skidded trees and tripped over roots and each other— "Ouch! Get _off_ me!"

Pansy tried to steer them in the direction that she thought Theodore had gone in, but it soon became apparent that they had no idea which way that was and their unwillingness to allow someone to lead them in this situation didn't help their coordination.

The darkness was thick, so that even their combined spells barely illuminated more than a few feet away from them.

"What the hell is the point of a _Lumos_ spell if we can't _see_ anything?" Daphne said in exasperation.

"Maybe we should have tried _Lumos Maximos," _Tracey whispered.

"Yes and while we were at it, we should have brought Dumbledore and Scar head along too, just to save them the effort of catching us." Daphne said with a roll of her eyes.

A sudden screeching noise to their left made them all freeze in alarm. Pansy gripped her wand until her fingers turned white. She started trembling as the first vestiges of an oncoming panic attack became apparent. This was a mistake. They shouldn't be out here.

"We have to go back," Rebecca whispered urgently. "If we don't, then we're going to _die_!"

"But which way is back?" Millicent asked, looking around frantically.

"There was a weird tree!" Tracey cried, spinning around. "_Fuck_, where _is_ it?"

"They're _all_ weird trees, you idiot!" Daphne yelled.

Pansy struggled to concentrate. They weren't helping.

"Shut up, shut up!" Tracey hissed. "It'll hear you!"

"_You_ just yelled!"

Rebecca was starting to sound hysterical. "We're gonna die. We're gonna die. We're—"

"Somebody _slap_ her," Pansy growled. "We just have to find—"

Their wands went out.

They began screaming.

Just as abruptly, there was light. Pansy flinched against the harsh brightness. She was blinking away the first spots of adjustment that clouded her vision when she heard the laughter.

_Laughter_.

Pansy sprung around to find the boys huddled around a fire that had most definitely _not_ been there before. They were laughing so hard that they were bent over and grasping each other's shoulders for support. Five horrified faces beheld them.

"You should see the looks on your faces," Theodore wheezed.

Daphne's face turned red with fury and it was a look that would have had the Bloody Barren cowering. "You bastards!" she shrieked. "You utter _bastards_!"

"I can't believe you did that," Rebecca said shakily, as she gripped her own sides as though she was literally moments away from falling to pieces.

Pansy reached up to calm her wild hair down, before deciding it was best to simply pull up the hood of her cloak hoping that Draco hadn't seen her in such a state, maybe he'd point out that she was the only one who had actually been somewhat practical…

"_We're gonna die. We're gonna die_," Draco mocked. "Bloody priceless."

Apparently not.

"It's not funny!" Tracey yelled, her nose somewhat blending in with her face which was hastily becoming beetroot.

"I beg to differ," Crabbe said, wiping fake tears from his eyes. Oh the dramatics.

"Where did _this_ come from?" Pansy asked Goyle guesturing towards the fire.

He opened his mouth to answer, but Theodore cut him off. "It was here the entire time. There are disillusionment charms up, and we warded the area to alert us to when someone was approaching and to extinguish your luminating spells."

"You warded against _us_?" Tracey said indignantly. Crabbe mimed a kiss at her, and Tracey looked both thunderous and repulsed.

"It was for _anyone_ that might be coming," Goyle explained sheepishly.

"Right," she glowered.

"That's a lot of effort for a house meeting," Daphne said, seeming to lose some of her anger in favour of curiosity, she made her way towards the fireplace, more specifically towards Draco, and flipped her hair back over her shoulders, walking in long stride and if Pansy were lucky the girl would trip.

"Don't think there won't be retribution for this," Rebecca warned, however with her face as flushed and red as it was, her eyes watering and her shoulders hunched as she struggled for breath, it was difficult to take her at all seriously.

In face Draco merely rolled his eyes. "Will you all shut up? We have something more important to discuss here than your pathetic attempts at revenge."

"This better be bloody important," said Tracey, still looking murderous.

"It is," Draco said, abruptly serious. "So important, in fact, that I couldn't tell you about it anywhere less private than this."

Pansy felt apprehensive watching him. She really had no idea what this could be about, but a part of her hoped that his news was going to prove to be something trivial, she couldn't exactly handle much more excitement tonight.

"I'm shivering with anticipation Draco," Daphne said as she took the seat between him and Blaise, leaning her head against the young heir, much to Pansy's dismay Draco didn't shoo her away.

"I received a letter from my father this morning— this letter was special, because beneath the exterior was a code."

"You and your father have a code?" Rebecca asked with a raised eyebrow.

"_Yes_," he snapped, "and if you were smart, then you'd have one, too. In fact, you're _going_ to get one, because the stakes have just gone up and you could risk everything with a negligent comment in a stupid letter."

The Nott's exchanged a look as though in shock that they had been so out of the loop, "I've been trying to get father into the whole code idea for years, he says he's just too busy with work for the Dark Lord to devise one, but as soo-.." Rebecca began.

"You're being especially cryptic tonight, Draco," Daphne said interrupting Rebecca's pathetic attempt for approval.

Pansy wanted to ask him to hurry up and spit it out, but she was afraid to bring his attention onto her given the current state of her appearance and instead shifted from one foot to another and kept her head down, despite the rising fear within her that made her want to lash out. Millicent stood beside her, shivering and looking miserable.

"What did the code say?" Tracey asked, pointing out what had been on all of their minds since Draco began speaking.

Draco and Blaise shared a slow, disturbing smile that made Pansy stare in morbid fascination. This couldn't be good. For one thing Blaise was showing actual interest –and _smiling_.

"This is it, finally," Draco said. "What we've all been waiting for."

"We're finally being recognized for our potential," Theodore said eagerly.

"Our patience has finally paid off."

"Patience and potential for _what_?" Crabbe asked confusedly.

Draco drew himself up proudly. "For _this_, Crabbe. There's a mission for us, and this is our chance to prove our worth to the cause."

"A _mission_?" Daphne said incredulously. "What does that mean?"

"It means that we have a _task_ to do, Greengrass," Theodore said patronizingly. She glared at him, her blue eyes narrowing into slits, which caused Theodore to turn his head in the other direction to avoid being subjected to her gaze much longer.

"Who says that we have a task to do?" Tracey asked, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest.

Blaise and Draco's smiles became positively feral.

"The Dark Lord himself."

His words were met with a stunned silence. Pansy felt her blood freeze.

"You're… joking, right?" Pansy asked, finally speaking up, eyes shifted between her and Draco, and she felt as though in another situation she would have been soaking up the attention, now however she felt nauseous.

"Why would I _joke_ about this?" he said, frowning. "Why would my _father_ joke about this? It's not a game, Parkinson. This is the future of the wizarding world we're talking about here!"

"And the parts we're going to play in it," Blaise added his gaze moving from one member of the group to another, as though the news wouldn't affect him as it did Daphne, Pansy, Millicent and Crabbe.

Pansy couldn't believe that this was actually happening. The situation was too surreal. "But we're still in school," she found herself saying. "We have nothing to offer yet."

Draco didn't look at her, but he addressed the entire group as if someone else had spoken. "The Dark Lord is aware of the limitations of our service at this point, but he's still found a way for us to do our parts."

"According to your father?"

He gave her a cold look. "Of course. Who's closer to the Dark Lord than my father? Did you expect him to just stop by to deliver the message in person? Maybe have some tea with Dumbledore while he's here?"

"No, but…"

"Anyway," he said, cutting her off with a dismissive wave of his hand, the look that Daphne sent her way only added to the wound. "There weren't any specifics about the task in this letter, but I expect that they'll come later. However—"

"_No_ specifics?" Tracey interrupted. "You mean that we don't even know what we're doing?"

"Do our parents know about this?" Rebecca asked nervously.

"Of course they do, you idiot," Theodore said. "Well, those parents of ours that _qualify_ for such intimate information." Pansy didn't miss the dig, and she stiffened predictably in anger and looking around at their own intimate circle she could see that a few other people were stung by his words.

"Can I _speak_ here?" Draco said irritably. "Yes? Okay. We don't know what the task is going to be yet, but my father did indicate a list of things that we're going to need to do it."

"So, it's going to be a spell of some sort?" Millicent asked, speaking up for the first time since they had discovered the bonfire.

"That's right," Draco said, smirking. "A spell that we can do right from here. As far as that goes…" He and Theodore exchanged pregnant glances again. "We've discussed it, and we decided—"

"Who's this _we_?" Daphne interrupted sitting up a little straighter.

"Draco and I," said Nott smoothly as he straightened his back and gave them all a superior smirk, oh that boy was getting a bit too big for his boots. And to make matters worse Draco didn't even bother correcting him.

"When did you decide this?" Goyle asked, sounding hurt.

"While you and Crabbe were in the kitchens," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Now, we're going to need some things from Sprouts stash: henbane, aloe wood, hemlock, saffron, opium, and mandrake, to be exact. Look, there's no getting around it."

"Do you have any idea how many gardens that woman's got? It's going to take us ages to figure out which one has what.." Tracey said with a shocked expression.

"Which is why we'll be splitting up Davis, it'll be simple enough really, you and I, Rebecca and Zabini, Daphne and Goyle," Theodore listed.

"_Goyle? Goyle?! _You expect me to venture into the unknown with fucking Goyle, no-thank you!" Daphne said both loudly and assertively.

The boy in question merely blushed slightly but other than that remained unresponsive to her insulting words.

Theodore rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Fine, Daphne and _Parkinson_," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, the rest of the pairings went un-noticed to Pansy as she and the blonde exchanged a look, neither was happy with the arrangement however they both put on smiles, at least to avoid allowing the boys to gain the upper-hand again by knowing that they were currently on less than friendly terms.

"So when are we… you know, doing this?" Pansy asked looking between Theodore and Draco, who seemed to be the heads of this operation.

"Next month, while everyone else is off at Hogsmeade the castle will be relatively empty, we'll scope out the place then and return that night to do the deed." Theodore replied.

"All at once?" Tracey asked with a raised eyebrow, "Wouldn't that be a little bit you know.. _risky_, it would be much better if we took it in turns rather than suddenly bundles of equipment going missing all on the same night, they'll know somethings up."

Theodore looked as though he was about to give her his version of a 'witty retort', however Draco held up a hand to stop him, and looked as though he was deep in thought before turning to Zabini, "What do you think Blaise?"

Blaise paused all eyes on him and after a moment or two spoke up, "I agree with Davis' idea, it's less conspicuous."

"Alright then, I'll tell you who's doing what and when." Draco said looking around at them all.

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

**A/N: **I will include more Pansy/Harry interactions in the next chapter, but I felt it was time for this chapter to be posted, as this is a serious point in the young Slytherin's lives, they have to be able to fit in and do what they need to for the dark lord and I wanted to show more interactions with them all.


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